Electric lamp socket



u 8, 1934. A. WALLBILLICH 4 1,971,359

ELECTRIC LAMP SOCKET Filed June 27, 1.929

: INVE NT OR Patented Aug. 28, 1,934

1 ,971,359 ELEo'riuo AMr sooKE'r Anthony Wallbillich, Hollis, N. Y., assignor to 1 The Leviton Manufacturing Company, Inc, a

corporation of New York i t Application June 27, 1929. Serial No. 373,999 3Claims. (Cl. re-s62) This invention relatestoalcasing for an electric lamp socket, which comprises a cap and shell that can be assembled to enclose the socket and disassembled when required to gain access .5 to the socket. The cap and shell may both be made of insulating material, such as phenol formaldehyde condensation product, for example, and are provided with means to enable the same to be securely retained in assembled position .10 without danger of the cap and shell becoming 1 15 the cap and shell separated; Fig. 2 is a section on an enlarged scale partly broken away taken through the skirt of the cap; and Fig. 3 is a similar view, showing the cap and shell in a different position.

In the drawing reference character 1 indicates the cap and reference character 2 indicates the shell, said cap and shell being circular in cross section. The inside of the flange of the cap 1 is provided with a series of spaced inwardly pro jecting lugs 3 that may be of rectangular shape with the sides parallel to the axis of the cap. The lower ends of the lugs 3 may be flush with the lower edge of the skirt of the cap 1 andthe upper ends of the lugs 3 may be flat, as indicated at 4 and parallel to the lower ends.

An outwardly projecting circumferential flange 5 is provided at a distance from the upper end of the shell 2 approximately equal to the axial length of the skirt of the cap 1 to operate as a limiting stop. when the shell 2 is inserted in the cap 1. A series of outwardly projecting lugs 6, spaced apart the same distance as the lugs 3, are provided on the shell 2 above the flange 5. An extension 7, parallel to the axis of the shell, extends from one end of each lug 6 to the flange 5. The portions of'the lugs 6 above the extensions 7 may be regarded as the retaining lugs on the shell 2. One of the lugs 6 and corresponding extension 7 is omitted and a recess 8 is provided which extends into the shell 2 from its outer sur face above the flange 5. A spring catch 9 is riveted near one end to the-shell2, asindicated at 10. The free end 11 of the spring catch 9 extends outwardly approximately the same distance as the outer sides of the lugs 6. A downward'ly extending lip 12 is provided on the lower side of the free end of the spring catch 9 and a recess 13 may be provided in the shell 2 to accommodate this lip. The shell 2 is provided with the usual key slot 14.

The axial length of. the lugs 6 is-made approximately the same as the distance from the upper ends 4 of the lugs 3 to an annular shoulder 15 on the inside of the cap 1, and the axial length of the lugs 3 is approximately the same as the distance from the lower side of the lugs 6 to the flange 5 or the axial length of the extensions '7.

By providing a plurality of lugs on the cap and shell they may be assembled even when the cap 1 is in fixed position, so that the key slot 14 will be in the desired circumferential position. In assembling the cap and shell, the upper end of the shell is inserted into the cap with the sides of the lugs 3 near the sides of the lugs 6 where the extensions '7 are located until the rim of the skirt of the cap strikes the flange 5 or the rim of the shell strikes the shoulder 15. The shell is then turned circumferentially in an anti-clockwise direction, causing one of the lugs 3 to ride along the outer side of the spring catch 9, as indicated in Fig. 2, thus forcing the end oi the spring catch 9 inwardly into the recess 8. When the shell 2 has been turned suficiently to cause the lugs 3 to pass under the lugs 6 and contact with the extensions 7, the end 11 of the spring catch 9 springs outwardly into position behind the edge of one of the lugs 3, as indicated in Fig. 3, thus preventing the shell from being rotated accidently in the other direction. The extensions 7 operate as stops to prevent further rotation of the shell 2 in an anti-clockwise direc- When it is desired to separate the cap and shell, the lip 12 is pressed inwardly, thus pressing the end 11 of the spring catch 9 into the recess 8, thereby releasing the lug 3, whereupon the shell 2 can be turned in a clockwise direction to remove the lugs 3 from beneath the lugs 6 and permit the cap and shell to be separated.

I claim:-

1. An electric lamp socket comprising a cap and shell of insulating material, said cap having an externally smooth cylindrically shaped flange of uniform thickness, rectangularly shaped equally spaced lugs integral with said flange along its lower inner edge, said shell having one end thereof cylindrically shaped and of smaller diameter than said flange, integral L-shaped lugs on the outside of said end spacedin accordance with the spacing of the lugs on said cap radial thickness, and a circumferentially extending metal catch attached at one end to said shell end and having its other end adapted to snap behind a lug on said cap flange when said shell and cap are assembled.

2. An electric lamp socket comprising a cap and shell of insulating material, said cap having an externally smooth cylindrically shaped flange of uniform thickness, rectangularly shaped equally spaced lugs integral with said flange along its lower inner edge, said shell having one end thereof cylindrically shaped and of smaller diameter than said flange, integral L-shaped lugs on the outside of said end spaced in accordance with the spacing of the lugs on said cap flange, all of said lugs on said cap flange and said shell end having substantially the same radial thickness, a circumferentially extendingmetal catch attached at one end to said shell end and having its other end adapted to snap behind a lug on said cap flange when said shell and cap are assembled, and a shoulder on said cap to limit the extent to which said shell can enter said cap.

all of said lugs on said cap flange and said shell end having substantially the same radial thickness, a circumferentially extending metal catch attached at oneend to said shell end and having its other end adapted to snap behind a lug on said cap flange when said shell and cap are assembled, and a releasing lip on said catch extending below the edge of the flange of said cap when said shell and cap are assembled.

ANTHONY WALLBILLICH. 

